Writing With Iron
by laya550
Summary: Hilarity and jealousy ensues when the members of Edolas Fairy Tail wind up in Earthland. Multi-chapter, I intend to update every 2-3 days (minimum of once a week if life decides to be difficult)
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

To say it was a normal day in Magnolia would be a lie. Being the home of the most rambunctious guild in all of Fiore made sure of that. The morning had started off quiet and sunny with a light breeze rustling the sun-scorched leaves. It was the middle of summer so every resident of the town was grateful for something other than just the blazing sun. The mages of Fairy Tail had no idea what kind of surprise they were going to be in for.

Levy awoke with a start, panting and covered with a thin sheen of sweat, in her bed at Fairy Hills. This was the fourth night in a row that she had _dreamt_ of the iron dragon slayer and it was beginning to drive her crazy. With a groan, Levy trudged towards her window and threw it open, hoping to let some of the stale air out of her room. She then made her way into her bathroom where she decided it would be better to just shower rather than try to fix the wild case of bed head plaguing her. Levy shed her short-shorts and tank top, climbed into the shower, and turned on the cold water hoping to ward off the stifling heat. Of course, the cold water wasn't just for working a chill into her petite body. It successfully washed away the last effects of her dream.

When she was done with her shower, Levy quickly toweled herself dry and got dressed in a pair of jean shorts, her normal bikini top and vest, along with some sandals. She then took a lacrima-powered blow dryer and a brush to her hair before effectively tying it back with a new, black headband. Glancing at a clock, she realized she was going to be late meeting Lucy if she didn't hurry. Grabbing her bag, she tossed a few of her new horror novels in. Suddenly remembering the recent chapter from Lucy's book she had reviewed, she quickly shuffled the papers off her desk and into her bag then ran out the door heading for the guild hall. She just **knew** Lucy would be unforgiving if she missed their shopping date again.

Despite it being relatively early in the morning, the summer heat was merciless. It was a short walk from Fairy Hills so Levy didn't bother trying to cram in any pages from one of the books she was currently reading. Approaching the guild she could already hear a brawl going on probably started by Natsu and company, so with a sigh she pushed open one of the heavy doors and stepped through the threshold. Her eyes immediately began scanning the tables for a certain black haired iron mage while making her way towards the bar and dodging flying tables, knowing that's where she'd find Lucy. "Hmph, he must not be here yet…" she thought.

She finally caught sight of Lucy who had Natsu in a choke hold and waved her hand in the hair shouting to her over the roar of fighting "Lu-chan! I finished your latest chapter!"

Lucy whirled around at the sound of Levy's voice and released her hold on Natsu. Once Lucy's eyes found Levy they widened slightly and a devious grin akin to one of Mira's spread across her face. Levy's features screwed up in confusion but not a second later she yelped as she was grabbed around the waist by an extremely large arm and hauled off to the mission board. It only took Levy half a second to realize who the arm belonged to. Levy struggled in his grip but finally gave up when his arm wouldn't budge and let out a whine, "Gajeel, would you **please** not carry me around like a sack of potatoes?!"

"Gihi, maybe if a sack of potatoes weighed more than you," Gajeel retorted then lowered his voice, "'sides, you're cute when ya get all flustered!"

When she heard the second half of his reply her face flushed and stuck out like a sore thumb in contrast with her hair. Levy gulped and let out with a huff, "W-why are we at the mission board anyway and would you put me down already?!" Surprisingly, Gajeel just grumbled incoherently and set her on her feet before letting her go when normally he'd just drop her on the ground. "Thank you," she mumbled. After a seemingly long silence she sighed, "Well?"

"Well what, Shrimp?"

"What are we at the mission board for?" She shot him a glance and her face flamed up again when she noticed he was staring at her very intently with a blank expression. "_Damn and my face just got back to normal, too." _She thought to herself.

"Well, I wanted to go on a mission and was gunna have ya pick one out for us but you're not lookin' too good, Shrimp. Your face is all red, d'ya need to go to the infirmary or somethin'?" As he said this he put a calloused hand to her forehead, effectively making her heart jump into her throat and her face flush an even deeper shade of red. It didn't seem to be much of a secret to the guild that Levy had a thing for Gajeel. Although, the dragon slayer himself seemed to be pretty oblivious to the fact.

Waving his hand away, she managed to squeak out, "I-I'm fine, it's just all this heat is getting to me. Anyway, I'm going to having to decline your offer, I've already got plans with Lu-chan."

"With bunny girl, eh? So just cancel, I wanna go on a mission." Beginning to peruse the mission board again, he added, "How 'bout beatin' up some thieves outside Onibus?" While looking at other requests Gajeel was completely unaware that Levy wasn't paying much attention and was actually very openly ogling him. "Oi, you might like this one, we'd hafta find some book collection buried inside a tomb in the mountains." As soon as he turned back to her, her eyes shot up to his and the blush returned.

"Huh? Oh, sorry, I can't cancel on her again, I promised Lucy we'd go shopping and I've already missed our last two dates. Besides, you can handle a mission by yourself or even with Pantherlily." Gajeel seemed to pale a bit at her statement.

"Uh… Since when were you and bunny girl dating?" He couldn't help but think that Levy definitely didn't seem the type.

"It's not like that you big lug!" She swatted at his arm as she said this but only managed to hurt the back of her hand.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Anyway, don't be getting' it into your head that I'm gunna be playing pack mule again. I'm not complainin' or anything but those thirty books you had yesterday were a bitch," he huffed and crossed his arms over his chest.

Levy just shook her head at him and sighed, "You're exaggerating, there were only ten books and I didn't **ask** you to carry them for me, I could've handled it."

"Yeah well I wasn't exactly lookin' forward to getting chewed out by Titania or that demon for lettin' you get crushed to death by your own damn books." Moving back to the board, Gajeel snatched a request and held it up before shouting to Mirajane, who was busy eavesdropping on the guild members sitting at the bar, "Oi! I'm takin' the book collection request!" Mira waved back letting him know she caught what he said. Mussing Levy's hair, he smirked, "Later Shrimp, have fun shoppin'," and with that he hoisted his bag, previously residing on the floor, onto his shoulder.

She waved his hand away and let out a small goodbye, ogling him again as he exited the guild. It took Levy a moment to remember that she **desperately** needed to talk with Lucy and made her way to the bar.


	2. Chapter 2

**Note: I meant to say this in the first chapter but this is set post GMG so they have their old guild hall back but it's before the flame village arc (or whatever it's called) I currently hope to update very 2-3 days but I've got a big project coming up for school that will cut into my writing/brainstorming time. I hope I can guarantee an update at least once a week. Enjoy!**

Chapter 2

Levy was able to avoid Jet and Droy on her way to the bar, mostly thanks to Natsu and his brawl. She really didn't want to be held up any longer, she just wanted to go out shopping with Lucy and have some girl time.

Lucy turned to Levy once she was at the bar and smirked, "Took you long enough, what was all that about?"

"As if you don't already know, Lu-chan. He just wanted to go on a mission." Levy quipped as she hopped onto the bar stool next to Lucy.

"What?! Why didn't you go with him?" Lucy was close to yelling so Levy nearly fell off her stool as she had to reach to quickly cover Lucy's mouth. Levy peeled her hand away as soon as she was positive Lucy wasn't going to yell again.

"Geez Lu-chan, I don't need Mira over here, and I told him I already had plans with you. I canceled the last two times and besides, I need some girl talk!" The "_away from prying ears"_ was easily inferred when Mira seemed to pop up out of nowhere.

"Sorry, did I hear my name? What are you ladies talking about?" Mira stood there looking at the two of them with a wide grin plastered on her face. It was seriously creepy how perceptive Mira was.

Levy was fear-stricken, not knowing what to say but Lucy came to the rescue, "Oh nothing really, just clothes and how you have such a great fashion sense!" With that, Levy let out a breath she wasn't aware she was holding and put a smile on her face, hoping it would fool the barmaid.

Mira just kept smiling at them, "Oh, you're too kind. Anyway, can I get either of you anything?"

"I hope you don't mind waiting Lu-chan but I haven't had breakfast yet."

Lucy shrugged, "Don't worry about it. Besides, you'll need the energy for all the walking we'll have to do!"

Levy just groaned, "Don't remind me, I like to shop but sometimes I wonder if all the walking is worth it."

* * *

Going from shop to shop, they talked about new books as well as Lucy's new chapter. The two girls were at their fourth shop before Levy was able to muster the courage to talk about Gajeel, "Lu-chan, what should I do about him? I mean, I really like him but sometimes it feels like he only sees me as a little kid. For example, he's only ever nice to me, Wendy, and Asuka."

Lucy was having a hard time containing her chuckles, "Oh Levy, Levy, Levy… For being so smart you sure are dense sometimes. Does he ever offer to go on missions with Wendy? The answer to that is 'no.' Also, he never just sits around and watches someone do their own thing like he does when he's watching you read. That boy has got it bad for you." Lucy then went back to looking through some racks of clothing.

Levy stood there, gaping like a fish causing Lucy to burst into a fit of laughter. "I'm not dense!" was all Levy could think to say.

"Oh c'mon Levy, he carried your books home for you yesterday. You should just tell him how you feel already; you're not going to be disappointed." She held a blouse up to her body to which Levy cringed at. "Yeah, I didn't think so, green isn't really my color."

"I don't think I'm ready for that, more specifically I don't think I'm up to being rejected. If I **did** tell him how I feel and he doesn't feel the same way, which I don't think he does, then our friendship will go out the window. I don't want to lose that so I think I'll just suffer in silence. Wait… How'd you know he carried my books home yesterday?"

Lucy's smirk was back, "You guys walked by apartment while you were arguing, and it wasn't hard to miss ya. Anyway, I can't make you do anything you don't want to but don't think I won't say I told you so.

* * *

The girls finished their shopping and found a small café where they had lunch. After that they headed towards Lucy's apartment to drop off bags before heading to Fairy Hills. "I'll be right back Lev." Lucy made her way into the apartment and moments later Levy laughed when she heard her yelling at Natsu to get out of her bed and to stop eating all of her food. Luc poked her head out the window, "It's going to take longer than I thought, lemme just get Natsu out of here."

"Don't worry about it; I'll just meet you back at the guild!" Levy waved to Lucy and looked up at the now cloudy and darkening sky as she walked towards Fairy Hills. She walked for a while staring at the sky, "_Hmm, Juvia didn't mention that there was any sign of a storm today. I wonder if someone was flirting with Gray." _ Her thoughts were broken when she walked into a wall. "_Wait, that's not a wall, walls don't wear clothes."_

"Oi, watch where you're goin', Shrimp. One of these days you're gunna walk right into the canal." Of course it'd be Gajeel's back she would walk into. "Are ya headin' to the guild?"

"Sort of, I'm on my way to Fairy Hills first to drop off the stuff I got." She held up her bags to show him as she said this. Before she could let the bags hang by her sides, Gajeel grabbed them and started walking to Levy's destination. "H-Hey, give those back! What are you doing, Gajeel?" She almost had to run to keep up with his pace.

Without stopping he called over his shoulder, "What does it look like, Bookworm?"

"Well, if I didn't know you, I'd say you were stealing my clothes." Then a thought occurred to her, it was rare when she got the opportunity to tease him. "You know, if you wanted to wear women's clothing, you'd do better getting them from Bisca since she's closer to your height. I don't think those will fit you." Her comment hit the mark as he almost skidded to a stop and turned around.

"Hey! I don't wear women's clothes! I was just tryin' to be nice by carryin' your damn bags for ya!" As quickly as he stopped, he turned back around and kept marching towards the dorms with his boots kicking up clouds of dirt.

"Oh c'mon, Gajeel! Don't be mad, I was just joking! How often do I get the chance to make fun of you? It's not like you don't deserve it with how much you tease me, anyway." She **was** running to keep up this time.

After five minutes of walking, and running, he seemed to have gotten over it when he slowed his pace down enough that Levy had no problem keeping up. They were just down the hill from the dorms when Gajeel spoke again, "If you're gunna be at the guild a while, make sure to bring your translation stuff."

"Huh? Why?" They were at the top of the hill now and she stared at him for a moment in confusion.

"Just 'cause, alright? Hurry up and put your bags away." He handed her the bags and proceeded to lean against the wall of the dorms with his arms crossed while Levy ran inside. Several minutes later, Levy emerged from the front door with another bag even bigger than the norm, chock full of tomes. Gajeel pushed away from the wall and waited for Levy before starting to head towards the guild.

"Ok, I'm ready. Why do I need all of these anyway?" She tried shifting the bag higher up on her shoulder to help distribute the weight but it was still a little difficult to walk.

With a grunt, Gajeel took the bag from Levy and slung it over his shoulder, "You're gunna pull your arm off tryin' to carry this thing. That or you're gunna trip and snap your ankle. Don't worry about it; you'll see why when we get to the guild."

"Ugh, fiiine. I'm guessing your mission was pretty easy since you're back already?" She didn't notice until now that his clothes were covered in a bit of dust with a cob web here and there.

"Yea, the hardest part was finding the tomb. You'd think the least they coulda done was tell me where it was. After that though, just had to follow the scent of ink and leather. Not that hard considerin' that's what y-" His step faltered for just a second and then he kept moving but with slightly larger strides.

Levy wasn't sure but she thought she saw a hint of a blush coloring his cheeks. "Considering what, Gajeel?"

He rubbed the back of his neck with the hand not gripping the strap of the bag. "Uhh nothin', nothin'. It was an easy mission, that's all."

Levy sighed and shook her head at him, "I don't know why you're always so difficult. Do you just live to cause trouble?"

He grinned, "Gihihi, you know it, Shrimp." They walked in silence for several minutes until the guild hall could be seen at the end of the street.

"So where's Lily? I would've expected to see him with you. Speaking of which, where was he yesterday?"

"He's off on a mission for his queen or somethin'. Been gone for nearly a week now. He wouldn't tell me, said it was 'top secret.' Don't know how those cats have top secret missions, what are they lookin' for, catnip?"

Levy giggled and in a singsong voice replied with, "Sounds like somebody's jealous!"

Gajeel's response was a low and quiet grumble, "I'm not jealous, I just miss my cat."

As they reached the doors of the guild, there was a rumbling from the sky and Gajeel pushed open one door, holding it for Levy. "Ladies first." Levy just stared at him in shock seeing as this was Gajeel and he was rarely polite "C'mon, get in before it starts pourin' out here." She hadn't moved yet when the side of his boot collided with her backside, effectively pushing her through the door.

"Hey! You got dirt all over my shorts!" Levy huffed and Gajeel just ruffled her hair with a smirk on his face as she wiped the dirt away. Being a little later in the day, the guild was mostly empty save for the usual crowd of Natsu and gang, Juvia, Cana, Macao, Wakaba, the Strauss siblings, Jet and Droy, and a few other stragglers.

Lucy sat at her normal table with Natsu, Happy, Gray, and Erza. Hearing Levy's voice she turned and waved but realized Levy wasn't going to be making it to her table for a while.

Levy waved and started towards Lucy's table but was caught off guard by Gajeel gently grabbing her wrist and pulling her towards a table off to the side where Wendy and Charle sat with a duffel bag. "C'mere, you wanted to know why I had ya bring your books, didn't ya?"

Once at the table he dropped the bag of books onto the table with a loud thud, "Gajeel! Be careful with those, some of them are really old!"

"Yeah, yeah." He let go of Levy's wrist and sat down, looking at Wendy, "Thanks for watchin' my bag kid, I owe ya one"

Wendy greeted them then stood and began to walk away from the table, "You're welcome, Gajeel-kun."

As Levy sat next to him, Gajeel pulled his duffel bag across the table and began rummaging through it until he pulled out a set of five **extremely old** books and placed them in front of Levy gingerly. "The guy that put out the request only wanted one of the books so he gave me these as part of the reward since he didn't have much cash wise. The book he wanted looked to be the sixth one so it's not much missin' from 'em."

There he went again, completely confusing her. Levy stared at the books on the table in wonder, never having seen the markings on the outer binding before. As soon as she was able to think again she threw herself at Gajeel and hugged him very tightly with her arms around his neck, "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you so much, Gajeel!" Not knowing what to do, Gajeel just awkwardly patted her back.

"No problem, Shrimp. Not like I could do anything with these old things anyway."

Levy pulled away from him and settled back into her seat and pulled several large books and a large stack of paper out of her bag to begin deciphering the strange markings on the first volume. Levy worked for hours until her stomach decided to make her aware of the time with a large rumbling. Gajeel laughed then waved his hand towards the bar and shouted, "Hey, Mira! Two dinner plates and a beer over here!"

Levy rubbed her temple and groaned, "I've barely got the first page of this book figured out. As soon as I think I've got it, they change the style! I wonder what the guy wanted with the one book anyway, I don't mean to sound arrogant but how could he figure out what it says when **I** can't?"

Gajeel shrugged and dug through his bag for scrap iron, "Eh, I think he mentioned having the first part of the collection and didn't much care what it says. Just wanted 'em for vanity. Rich aristocrats, only thinkin' about how other people see 'em. Hah! Knew I had some in here." He leaned back in his chair and it in his mouth.

"Hmm, I wonder if I could convince the guy to give me sixth book if I made a copy for him. Books don't deserve to be behind a glass case, they're meant to be read!" Gajeel watched her in fascination as she went back to translating the texts.

"I could always just go steal it for ya, the security at the guy's place was pretty lousy." Levy turned to him, her face brightening until what he had said clicked and then she scowled.

"Gajeel, I will not encourage or condone thievery! Especially concerning books," she flashed him a smile then said, "but… I never heard you say that…"

"I've really been a bad influence on you." Gajeel grinned back at her until his face turned serious, "Levy… I wanted to tell you-" He was interrupted as Mira came to the table, balancing a tray containing their food and drink.

Setting their plates on the table she said, "Here you go guys! Anything else I can get for you?"

Eager to change the subject since the moment had passed, Gajeel piped up, "I'll take some spare iron if ya have any. What about you Shrimp?"

Still slightly confused about what he seemed to be about to say, Levy was shaken out of her daze when he called her shrimp. "Oh, nothing else for me. Thanks, Mira." He spared no time digging into his food. Once Mira was gone Levy turned to look at him "What was it you were going to say?"

He thought he had successfully dropped the subject but was sadly mistaken. "Nothin' Shrimp, just glad you like the books. You woulda beaten me black n' blue if you found out I had just thrown 'em away."

Slightly disappointed, she smiled and replied, "Thanks again, by the way. These are going to keep me busy for weeks I bet." She went to take a bite of food when a loud thunderclap shook the guild hall; the deafening noise causing her fork to fall from her hand and clatter against the plate. A few tables away someone cursed Laxus and his need for grand entrances. Several moments later another thunderclap resounded, this time coming from directly outside the doors of the guild hall. There was a loud rumbling between the roars of thunder. Several people, especially the dragon slayers, shielded their ears from the noise in case it happened again.

Laxus came down the stairs from the second story looking like he was just woken up from a nap, "Before any of you asshats jump the gun, I'm not causin' this!"

"Damnit, what the hell is that?!" Gajeel roared as he stood up from the table heading towards the door but stopped in his tracks as the loudest boom rattled the entire hall. The rumbling stopped, leaving it eerily quiet and people tentatively removed their hands from their ears. Everyone rushed to the doors, trying to find the cause of the thunder. Being closest to the exit, Gajeel made it out first followed by a frantic Natsu and Jet. Pushing through the crowd, Levy and Lucy heard both Gajeel and Natsu shouting in unison, "**HOW THE HELL?**!"

Emerging from the front of the crowd, Lucy and Levy laid their eyes upon their Edolas Fairy Tail counterparts, including Gajeel the reporter. The first thing to run through Levy's mind was "_Well, this is going to be interesting."_

* * *

**That's it for this chapter, I hope you enjoyed it! Please review , let me know if there happens to be a pairing you'd like to see expanded on or a scenario I might be able to work in. I won't budge from Earthland Gajeel/Levy but the others I'm pretty flexible about.**


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